Tokyo

The city grew from Edo, the seat of the Tokugawa shoguns. In 1868, after the Meiji government took power, Edo was renamed Tokyo, meaning Eastern Capital, and Emperor Meiji moved the imperial capital here from Kyoto that same year. The metropolis now has a population of around 14 million, with roughly 41 million people in the wider metropolitan area.

Many of today's landmarks carry stories from that modern century. The bronze statue of Hachiko outside Shibuya Station remembers an Akita dog that kept returning to the station for almost ten years after his owner, a university professor, died suddenly in 1925. Across the city, temples such as Senso-ji in Asakusa preserve far older traditions alongside the skyscrapers.

Daily life in Tokyo runs on the train timetable, and locals move through stations with practised calm: queue in marked lines on platforms, stand to one side on escalators and keep phone calls off trains. Neighbourhood shrines and temples remain part of ordinary routines, from New Year visits to seasonal festivals, while districts such as Shinjuku and Shibuya stay lively late into the night. Meeting friends at landmarks such as the Hachiko statue is a long-standing habit, and the city's appetite for seasonal events, from cherry blossom picnics in spring to winter light displays, shapes the calendar.